Worlds away
by Iamawesomedogtoo
Summary: On the day of her birthday, Lucy has to leave the Fairy Tail guild. Now, she has a chance to go back, but will she take it? After all, it would lead her worlds away. But then Lucy realizes the bitter truth in her world, and she can never go back to the world she so desperately wanted to return to. She wasn't close, far from it. She was worlds away.
1. Chapter 1

Do they know what day today is? Probably not. Lucy sighed as she slumped against her chair, writing her novel. Happy was the only one who visits anymore. Lucy wouldn't blame him if he didn't know as well. It didn't matter. She's been like this for years. She shouldn't have gotten used to it. Lucy walked to the guild in silence, staring at her feet.

"Lushi!" Happy called. Lucy waved to Happy, grateful the cat acknowledged her. "Can we go fishing?" Lucy shook her head. "The pond's frozen over." Happy was depressed. Especially since the pond was frozen over in the middle of summer.

Lucy continued to walk her not-so-merry way. Maybe today. Maybe it would be like one of those surprise parties. Or maybe not. Maybe it would be just like the other days. Bad Lucy. Think positive.

As she stood in front of the guild doors, however, Lucy heard sounds. "You tell her." Someone said. "Wow! I bet flamebrain won't even make it half way since he's so dumb!" Someone else said. "Shut up, stripper!" An all too obvious voice said. Lucy was too tired to care as she simply opened the door and walked in.

No good mornings. No hellos. No hey Lucys. Just simply silence. Oh no. The guild wasn't silent. She was just ignored.

As Lucy passed by, whispers could be heard. Every day. Every single day. What once filled her with joy now filled her with sadness. If only things weren't that way. What had she done wrong?

She held back the moisture from her glittering brown orbs. So un Lucy like. So depressing. It's not right. There were still others who cared about her. She shouldn't ignore the fact that Happy noticed her. Lucy should just keep hope that they notice her today, notice the girl they cared for under their wing, the one who they all fought for, all together, all bonded as one. Surely that meant something? Surely they weren't going to just throw that all away?

Lucy looked at Lissana, talking to Mira about something. She wondered how it felt like, waking up in an alternative universe. A different world, a different reality. A place so different yet so same. Your friends are all there, so close, so tantalizingly close, yet just out of reach. They may not be there, and may never will again, but you start to bond with them. Then, they come back and it starts all over again. It haunts you.

Lucy picked on what was left of her food. She should probably take a job. Probably. As she walked toward the request board, she noticed someone walk toward her. Lucy smiled the biggest smile she could muster, her eyes shining. Perhaps this was the day they would stop ignoring her?

"Natsu!" Lucy said, hugging him before he can say anything. She let go after a few minutes. "Uh, Lucy." Natsu said as Lucy looked at him with wide eyes full of anticipation. "Can you leave the guild?" Lucy stared in shock.

"Why?" Lucy asked. "No one wants you here." Natsu said casually. Lucy jumped away from him. It can't be true, can it?

She looked around. Pointing. Pointing at her. Whisperings. Then she noticed something she didn't in quite a while. The people's smiles didn't reach their eyes. Was it because of her? Was she really the cause of this?

"Why?" Lucy asked. "What did I do wrong?" "You're weak." Natsu said. "Now can you go?" Lucy turned to stare him straight in the eye. "This isn't the Fairy Tail I knew." She walked away as she whispered one thing under her breathe. "I can't believe I ever loved you." After that, Lucy ran a break for the door.

It was all a joke, right? A silly prank? No. It's been going on for days. She shouldn't annoy them any longer. She had hoped too long. She should have thought. She should have realized she was worlds away.

There were days when Lucy would come back to the guild with scars. She needed to do missions to keep up rent, but these thoughts always crept into her mind. When will she be loved? Of course Happy was always there, helping her, but she always needed help. Lucy reached down to pull her sleeve up and look at her scars. A deep gash in the center of her elbow. She remembered getting it when she saw a redhead with long hair. She remembered thinking of how the girl looked so much like Erza. But it wasn't. Her desperation that her friends would notice her drove her to the scar.

Lucy looked down at her thigh. A streak decorated the center. The day Lucy went against another dark guild, hoping that maybe she'll run into them. Her efforts were in vain, however. A flash of ice. Lucy knew it was there. She bounded toward it, sprinted toward it with all her might, not even caring that she was in harms way. All it did was aid the enemy.

Lucy never have up hope. She trusted her family. She went on another job. maybe something came up so they couldn't talk to her? Lucy went on another job to fill the growing hole in her empty heart. She did see them, but it was the last time. Pink hair. She knew who it was. Then, a fireball hit her and burned her on the spot of her emblem. Lucy took off her gloves.

Not even Wendy healed her, but Lucy didn't think Wendy should waste her time.

She looked at the burned emblem. It was already charred, old, rundown. It was looking forward to death. Maybe that was the emblem's way of saying her time in Fairy Tail was over.

Lucy ran into Makarov. Just who she wanted to see. "Master, I'd like to quit the guild." Lucy said. The guild master sighed in exasperation. "If you brats are playing some sort of joke, don't think I'll buy it." Lucy firmly looked at him. "I think it's time for you to erase my guild mark." Makarov stared in shock. "Please don't tell me you're serious?" He must be so happy to have one less problem in the guild. She shook her head. "This is no joke." Makarov then noticed the scars across her body in horror as one thought echoed in his head: 'what had they done to her?' He tearfully looked at her guild mark. It was seared. "Come back any time, child. Please visit." Lucy doubted she'd come back. After swiping off the guild mark, Makarov immediately ran to the guild.

Lucy wrote down goodbye letters as she expected tears to come. They didn't. Maybe she shed so much tears, she had none left. Or maybe her tears weren't worth it.

She ran to the train station before flashbacks hit her. No matter where she ran, she couldn't escape. She cared. Lucy ran far, far away, into the depths of the forests she was so afraid of before.

A majestic dragon soared over the crystal blue sky. He looked below, wondering how he escaped his prison. There lay a blonde haired girl, curled into a tight ball as she clutched a flower. Upon closer inspection, the girl looked familiar. "Anna?"

It wasn't possible. Anna lived years ago. She was killed before his very eyes. Acknologia looked at the girl closer. No. it wasn't Anna. Probably another enemy. He flew down to crush her when he suddenly noticed the girl's facial expression.

Hurt. Betrayal. It was written in blood. That was the moment Acknologia knew who awakened him. She was just like him, betrayed by loved ones.

All humans were enemies. Acknologia couldn't bear to side with one. It would bring him pain. Why won't he kill the girl?

Warmth was filled in Acknologia's heart, warmth to care for the tiny girl like how he wished someone cared for him. Maybe this was what Igneel spoke of. Acknologia quickly shut his eyes. Don't mention Igneel.

The girl opened her familiar chocolate brown eyes. "I wish my dad was still alive." She didn't care that a dragon loomed over her. "Then I shall be your dad." Acknologia said. Lucy looked up above. This dragon knew what betrayal was. She could see it in his eyes. Lucy smiled. "Thank you." Maybe people in this world still cared for her.

"You look like a mess, human." Acknologia said. "The humans of this generation don't seriously look like that, do they? If so then this world has become a horrid place." Lucy laughed at that comment. "I really shouldn't have wore make up today."

"What is this 'make up' you speak of? Does it ruin the face? Is it the latest trend?" Lucy was shocked this dragon knew what trend was and not make up.

"What is your name, human?" The dragon asked. "Lucy. Lucy Heartfillia."

"What's yours?" Lucy asked.

"Acnologia."


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, I don't understand what a human's father would do." Acknologia said. Lucy knew what to do. If she was weak, that meant she needed to train. She would only hurt herself.

"Train me." Lucy said. Acknologia looked enthusiastic. "So you're tough? Just a warning: I train hard. You may talk tough, but you'll shatter to pieces with my training."

Lucy knew it would be hard. She knew that this was a dragon. Wallowed in her self-pity, Lucy, against her better judgment, agreed to it.

"There are some setbacks." Acknologia said. Lucy listened intently. "First off, you'll turn seven years younger." Lucy stiffened. "Next, your training will be hard and your feelings will affect your strength." So Lucy really won't be that strong against those she doesn't want to fight. "And the last one…" Acknologia paled. "What is it?" Lucy asked. "Turn back before you end up like me." Acknologia said. "What if I say 'no'?" Lucy asked. She was stubborn. "Remember when I said that feelings conflict your magic? Well, learning the magic will make you forget something. Something important." Acknologia said, not specifying what the thing is. He was sure she'd be eager to train if she knew, but it would be horrible for her.

"I'll train no matter what!" Lucy said. There was a certain thing, a certain emotion that fueled her stubbornness. Sure she was betrayed, but that wasn't it. Lucy didn't want revenge no matter how much she tries to want it. It was something different, and Acknologia knew it. That was the thing that fueled her and would soon be replaced by something more horrid.

"If you shake my hand, there is no going back." With the shake of a hand, Lucy had agreed to the devil.

 **MEANWHILE IN MAGNOLIA**

Why did no one show up to Lucy's party? Natsu thought they cared. Maybe they were all late. Where was Lucy though? Why didn't Happy bring her?

Natsu was determined to make this the best birthday party ever. He spent months trying to raise enough money with his team since he didn't want it to end up like last time. He wanted it to be so awesome that it'll make up for all of the uncelebrated ones she had stuck in her mansion.

It was painful not to see her for weeks. He almost gave up until he accidentally hit her with a fireball during a mission and was determined more than ever to make the party extravagant.

It was hours and no one showed up. What happened? Why did no one show up? Maybe he should head to the guild.

The guild echoed with heart wrenching sobs as Natsu entered the door. Paper was all over the place. "Lu chan! Why leave us, you were the only one who understood what liturgical meant!" Levy cried. Wait. Lucy left.

"What? Lucy left! Why? I will kill the bastards who forced her to do this!" Natsu yelled. He was obviously in a destructive rampage.

"Funny." Chuckled a bitter old voice as an office door could be heard shutting. "It's so funny that the 'bastard' is you. Should I even call you that?" The master said. Suddenly, everyone in the guild started glaring at him. "Don't give him all the blame, brats. You did something too." The master chuckled maniacally. "Master, are you ok?" Asked Erza in a worried tone. "No, I'm not." Makarov said. "I'm not ok with your plan." Realization dawned on Erza's face.

"While all of you were planning to surprise her with a party, you took days, weeks, even months planning for a party that took a few hours and did you know how she felt? Did you?" He asked. Natsu didn't understand what he was talking about.

"She was ignored and slowly lost trust in all of you. Imagine how it must feel having the only one you can trust. Horrible. Miserable. She put her faith in all of you and you let her down. That is unacceptable. Still, Happy was there for her, but not all the time. He was blissfully ignorant of all the things she went through, and she didn't dare utter a single word of it." It was awful just without Lucy, but Natsu wondered how she lasted that long with no one but Happy.

"And what you said was the final straw." Suddenly he realized. Now he knew. "I didn't mean quit the guild! I meant just go out through the doors and do something else! And we all wanted her here, but at the same time we didn't because we didn't want her to find out what we were planning." Makarov looked clearly into his eyes. "And what else?" "And I only said she was weak as a joke so she'd be annoyed and go home like how I call her heavy. I didn't know that she'd take it seriously." Gasps were heard throughout the guild.

"You know that's a sensible topic for Lu chan!" Levy yelled. "How was I supposed to know?" Natsu asked, crossing his arms over is chest. "She told me, so she probably told you!" She yelled. Natsu paused.

"What did she say?" He was almost afraid to find out.

"So, how is it going with a certain pinkette?" Levy asked teasingly. Lucy's face reddened. "Nothing!" She yelled defensively. "Nothing, eh?" Levy wriggled her eyebrows playfully. "Why don't we talk about how hot you think Gajeel is?" Lucy asked. A light blush appeared on Levy's cheeks before she turned her nose up. "How dare you try to change the subject!" Levy said, putting an obviously false façade of anger. Lucy smirked. "I know you have feelings for him~." Levy puffed up her cheeks. "Well, you have feelings for Natsu!" Lucy sighed as she shook her head.

"And, you say I have feelings for someone who called me Luigi even after knowing me for, like, hours?" "And you accuse me of having feelings for someone who calls me shrimp after knowing me for, like, months?" Lucy sweat dropped. "You have a point." Levy held out her arms for hug.

"It's okay, Lu. Now, tell me why you always try to deny it." Levy said. "Please!" She added. Lucy sighed. "Well, I'm pretty weak, aren't I? I mean, I've basically sat back and let the rest of the team do the battles. It doesn't help that the nature of my magic is to summon spirits to attack for me. I want to use my own magic to attack, but all I have is a whip. Take away my belt with all my stuff and I'm helpless. He can never like me. I'm too weak." Levy pulled Lucy into the bone crushing hug she intended earlier. "Oh Lu chan! He cares about his nakama no matter how strong. And if he ever calls you weak, he's not worth it. I'll always be there for you and I'll crush him to itty bitty bits. He doesn't know how strong you are, Lu chan! Even if you're magic isn't strong, your heart is, so keep it beating." Lucy sobbed.

"You sure?" She asked. "Positive."

And suddenly, a flash of pink flew out the door. It went speeds so fast that one's head would spin. It ran and ran, but never found her. The boy touched the tears he didn't know he shed on his cheek as he uttered words that filled him with joy and pain. "She loves me."


	3. Chapter 3

Where was she? Why was she here? Who was she? Oh right. Lucy Heartfillia who had recently left Fairy Tail and is now somewhere in the forest. She groaned, rubbing her head. Who gave her sake last night? Oh wait, that was just an immensely painful headache.

"Human, you took, like, 5 hours sleeping. You're supposed to, like, take 2." Acknologia said in a cringe worthy, horrifyingly fake school girl accent. Lucy winced. "Please don't do that." She pleaded. Acknologia raised an eyebrow in confusion but complied.

"Now, we must begin the training-" Lucy pumped up her fist. "Tonight." And she sat back down.

"Why?" Lucy asked. "I'm prepared to train right now!" Acknologia raised a brow. "Did you consider the fact that I am not?" He was surprised by his own sassiness, reminding himself of the old him with just a bit more sharp tongue. Lucy's features where overwhelmed by guilt. "No, sir." "good. Now, I've always wanted to try this 'shopping'." 'It wasn't a total lie,' He told himself. 'What they called shopping 400 years ago was somehow a little bit different… maybe.'

"How are you, a 500 meter tall dragon, going to fit inside a store?" Lucy asked incredulously. Boy was she in for a surprise.

They had finally arrived at a nearby village when Acknologia transformed. Instead of a dragon, there was a human with Dark blue hair matching the striped patterns on his dragon form's back and emerald green eyes. A scar ran down his tanned face. All the abdominal muscle he had in dragon form looked no less impressive in human form. He scrunched his face up. "Well, at least this form has some benefits." Lucy rose an inquisitive brow at him but he gave no response. She huffed in frustration.

Apparently, people didn't 'ogle' back in Acknologia's days, which unfortunately left him unable to deal with this situation. Most of the female population have never seen a ten pack before. Acknologia was just surprised he was able to maintain his figure after being asleep for 400 years. It didn't help that he received jealous stares from the majority of the male population.

"Are humans always like this?" he whispered to Lucy. "Well, this generation is a bit more spoiled than the rest. I don't know how they were like in your time." Acknologia had one word to describe them. Horrible. They haven't changed one bit.

"Come on, let's get you some clothes. You can't go everywhere with just a cloak." Although that would give the females some fan service.

Shopping was an absolute nightmare. It was not Lucy trying on everything she saw. No, she already owned the majority of the store's merchandise. The real problem was the length Lucy had to go to to get Acknologia to try any of the clothes on. Apparently, skinny jeans were inappropriate for casual wear and were regarded to be clothes of the lowest peasants. Lucy was just surprised skinny jeans existed 400 years ago.

"What is your problem with turtlenecks?" Lucy asked. Acknologia ran off, ignoring her question. "Are you even listening to me?" Acknologia shook his head and then pointed to yet another store. Following his finger, she read the sign on the door. 'Margarine's magic shop. Ancient magic items. On sale, everything 95% percent off.' Her jaw dropped as she stared at the sign. "It's 95% off!" Acknologia stared at her in confusion. "That is not the important thing. The important thing is that the owner of this store is none other than a food product." Lucy sweat dropped. Maybe she shouldn't point out that it's a name.

"Welcome to Margarine's." Said a girl who appeared to be in her late teens. She seemed very apathetic about her job. Pulling up a sign that said 'no, I don't care', she continued to stare longingly at the clock, silently counting down until her shift was over. Since Acknologia was busy arguing with said girl, Lucy took it upon herself to browse the aisle. Picatrix. Nope, not interesting. 101 Uses for Pickled Plums. Sounds like something Wendy would be scared of. How to Kill a Mocking Jay. Why would she want to kill a Mocking Jay? She sighed, finally giving up hope that this store had any useful items and was about to turn back when she bumped into a girl. She was around 1 meter 21 centimeters (4 ft 2 in) with long blonde hair. Bangs covered her eyes. Lucy found her strange.

"All magic comes with a price." And with that, she vanished.

Chikara. That one book caught her eye. It was just a simple title, really only saying one word. And that word was the one thing she desired, strength. Something was weird about this book though. It emanated a dark aura, one of hostility. There was nothing wrong with strength, was there?

Lucy read the price tag. 0 jewels. That's strange. Shouldn't a book like this be priced at least something? If so, how is it not in the hands of dark guilds? Then again, that wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

She read the title over and over again, wanting it more as she read it more. It makes sense. This book isn't dark. Otherwise, evil mages would have gotten their hands on it by now. It was probably a book of the light, therefore making those in the darkness unable to read it's secretive information. It just had a strange feeling to it because of how obtainable it is. Yeah, that's it.

'All magic comes with a price.' The girl's voice ringed in her ear. What did that mean? 'Oh well.' Lucy decided. 'I'll figure this out later. For now, I'll buy the book.' And she walked to the cash register.

"Where did you get that?" Acknologia asked, pointing a shaky finger at the book. "Put it back!" Lucy glared at him. "And why should I?" "This is serious. Whatever you do, do not open that book!" After looking between Acknologia and the book for a while, Lucy sighed. "Fine." Acknologia appeared obviously relieved as he continued walking. Lucy plopped the book on a bench before following him. However, she still couldn't get that book out of her head! 'Take me with you!' It pleaded in a voice of unbelievable innocence. "Hey, Acknologia?" Lucy asked. "Yes? "I'm going to go back, okay? I need to pee." Without waiting for a response, she immediately turned back.

Lucy grabbed the book from the bench and tucked it safely into her purse, where it was concealed. "Don't worry. I won't abandon you." And had she stared a second longer would she have noticed the sinister red glow emanating from it. 'Of course you won't.'


	4. Chapter 4

Death. Dying. They were dying. Her parents, Acknologia, and her- dare she say it- Fairy Tail family. And then, in a swift second, it was all gone.

"It seems like you improved your skills," Acknologia said. Lucy sat up, rubbing her head.

"Isn't this dark magic?" she asked.

"Although it has a negative nature, no, it is not dark magic, albeit most thinking it actually is. Chaos dragon slaying magic is, well, chaos. Unlike most dragon slayer skills, it is both emotional and physical. Thus, this magic can apply to discord in the world or your own inner turmoil." Acknologia explained. Lucy nodded and a blush of embarrassment soon appeared on her face.

"Um, what do chaos dragon slayers e-eat?" she squeaked, quickly covering her face. Acnologia looked amused.

"Well, we don't eat. As I explained, magic is fueled by our inner turmoil. Though there is one risk." He shook his head. "Never mind that. But no, this is on the borderline edge of dark magic, but not quite there. I'd advise you to be cautious. If you're not careful, this could easily turn into the darkest magic. Now, time to resume training."

…

"Well, I see another improvement," Acknologia said.

"I don't. I'm still weak." Lucy punched the grass. Her fist recoiled from the damage. "See?"

"Baby steps," Acknologia said in a tone one might speak to a baby with.

" _I'm coming."_

Natsu turned around. He knew the voice was familiar but he couldn't pin point it.

 _Shuffle, shuffle._

That smell. It really was familiar.

" _I'll kill you."_

A shiver ran down his spine. He continued walking.

"Stupid Happy. He should have told me earlier that he spotted Luce near the guild." He stopped walking when he bumped into someone and rubbed his head in pain. "Ouch! Bastard, I'm trying to find my friend here!" Once again he stopped what he was doing when the person's hood fell off and luscious golden hair cascaded down her back. A grin broke out on his face.

"Luce! You came back! You knew I didn't really mean what I said!" She didn't respond.

"Luce?" he asked again. "Lucy! Are you ignoring me?" She didn't move an inch, not even the littlest of twitches. He waved a hand in front of her face.

"Luc-" Her head slowly turned toward his direction, her body following shortly after.

"Where is he?" she asked, her countenance full of bloody murder and tone cold. Red that was not hers littered across her face. Fear overclouded Natsu's features.

"Who are you talking about?" He managed to keep his voice steady somehow.

"Rogue. Rogue Cheney."

"I-I don't know him!"

"I see. Well, you know too much and you have no information to give me. Farewell, person." And for the first time, Natsu saw that this person's eyes were not the chocolate brown he loved but pitch black. They seemed to multiply into an endless void and filled his vision. He lost consciousness.

He didn't expect waking up to the sound of banging noises. He didn't expect waking up at all. When had he fallen asleep?

"I must hit myself as retribution for not looking after him," Erza mumbled to herself as she banged her body against the equipment. It broke.

"Are you trying to break my apparatus or are you just being an insolent human who loves to watch others suffer?" Porlyusica growled.

"How else am I supposed to atone?" Erza asked.

"Just get out! All of you!" snapped Porlyusica.

"Gee, you and Aquarius should be siblings," Cana joked. Silence fell throughout the room. Gray prompted to break the silence.

"I, uh, think flame sh*t is awake." And he was indeed. Queue the questions.

"What happened?" Erza asked, a dangerous glint in her voice. Natsu tried to recall, but his mind drew to a blank.

"I don't know. Last thing I remember was walking to the guild." Makarov opened the infirmary doors and frantically ran in.

"This is bad. He has the mark!" Erza's stern expression dropped as she turned to stare at Makarov in confusion.

"Master, what is this mark you speak of?" Makarov held a somber expression.

"The mark of Chikara." Once again, silence filled the room. Finally Gray spoke.

"Man, gramps. The mark of strength? Do I get one too cause I can beat his sh*tty a*s!"Gray said sarcastically. The guild burst out laughing, save one angry Natsu.

"Hey, freaking sissy, what's that supposed to mean?" he yelled in, you guessed it, anger.

"Quite, brats! This is a serious matter!" Makarov yelled. The quieting had been completed.

"This is an indirect mark, meaning it won't affect him. However, he was near a chikara user. This is dangerous. If the magic cannot be contained, the user will slowly sink into the subconscious of Ankhseram. Unfortunately, if the magic is not removed before a full synchronization, the person will completely disappear, nothing left of them but an empty shell."

"Master, if that is true, then why have I not heard it before?" asked Erza.

"I don't know, Erza. I don't know."

"Good progress, Lucy," Acknologia said. Tears stained her face.

"No, not good progress. I didn't get stronger at all did I?" she yelled. Acknologia hesitated. "I knew it!"

"Wait! You did make some progress, just not a lot." She looked him in the eye.

"This isn't my magic. I can't learn it. It isn't me." Lucy ran away.

'I'm so stupid.' Lucy thought. She was currently standing outside a shop she didn't know the name of in a city she didn't know the name of. 'Just great.' Lucy walked into the store, hoping to get directions to a familiar city. Guilt swelled up inside of her. She left Acknologia all alone. He doesn't know about humans much. She cringed. That's an understatement. She heard mingling.

"Poor Natsu." She tensed. White hair. No, no, no, no, no! She wasn't ready to face them!

"He hasn't woken up for five days." Blue hair. This cannot be happening. Maybe her mind wasn't thinking right, or maybe it was she was desperate because it was then and there that Lucy opened the book. Everything went black.

Lissana silently scuffled through the store's library section, hoping to find some health medicine books. While she was doing so, she became well aware of Juvia silently staring at her.

"What's the matter, Juvia? Is something on my face?" Lissana asked, confused as to why Juvia was staring at her like that. With all that genuine concern, it seemed like Lissana had just been hospitalized.

"Poor Lissana san, having to bear with the pain alone," Juvia muttered. Lissana looked inquisitively at Juvia.

"What do you mean, Juvia?"

"Juvia knows. Juvia has a sense for these things," Juvia said. Lissana sighed.

"I guess I can't hide it forever. Someone was bound to catch on."

"Juvia wants to know why Lissana san never confessed to Natsu kun. Is this a misunderstanding on Juvia's part?" Lissana shook her head.

"No, you're correct. I do like him. No, that's wrong. I love him. Ever since we were kids. And when I thought I could forget about him in Edolas… well, let's just say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But I won't ever admit it, never acknowledge it. I won't ever say it, pretend it isn't real. I'll bear with it, knowing that one day I'll find someone else." Juvia looked stunned.

"But why? Why would Lissana san do that?" A small smile crept on Lissana's face.

"As much as I love Natsu, I love Lucy more. And if she likes him and he likes her, I'll always stay happy for them no matter what, hoping me and my soul mate's bonds will be just as strong as theirs." It was Juvia's turn to smile.

"Lissana san is the nicest person Juvia knows." Lissana shook her head in disagreement.

"Not really. I think you are, sticking with Gray even after all the things he did." Lissana said.

"Love can do crazy things."


	5. Chapter 5

**If you think the birthday thing is over exaggerated, there's a reason for everything. ;) (Spoilers, *cough, cough*) Oh yeah, this chapter's a bit depressing. (Fyi, my writing style may have changed.)**

How could he ever trust them? How could he look at one of them and think they know the suffering and pain he was feeling? They're human. They don't know anything about this world, about it's true horrors, about the different realms and depths. He was a stupid, dumb idiot, just as stupid as them.

Because he was human too.

Each and every living second Acknologia tried to deny it. His voice rang throughout his head, hollering.

'I'm a dragon! A dragon! I have no affiliation with humans at all!'

It was true. He was a dragon. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why there was still some human left in him.

 _You can never forget your origins._

He'd remember Anna's voice in the most random times. That kind voice that held firmness and determination. That voice so _human_.

He despised humans with every fiber of his being.

"Humans leave you," Acknologia said. "It is in their nature."

How was it possible that he could be a human and a dragon? Dragons were known for hoarding. People were known for giving things away. They were completely contradictory, like synonyms and antonyms. Acknologia let out a bitter laugh.

"Chaos dragon slayer. What a fitting name."

He watched as the rain went pitter patter, taking comfort in its company.

But the rain would leave him too.

All she could see was darkness. The blackness was suffocating her, swelling up around her, trapping her like she was their prisoner.

Then why?

Why did she feel so happy? Why did she have this giddy feeling, like she was floating on cloud nine? She was surrounded by darkness in all four directions, nothing from within miles, like she died.

Did she die?

There was only one way to find out, Lucy decided. Wait.

The gates slowly started open and let the prisoner out. But she wished it hadn't. She'd recognize those soft brown eyes anywhere.

"Wendy." Lucy only uttered that single word, but it conveyed everything.

She was happy. Overjoyed, in fact, that one of her comrades had saved her. She was sad, sad that she had to meet Wendy on such terms. She was hurt by what has happened before and afraid of what happens next.

That world that held her prisoner was nowhere in sight.

"Lucy san." Wendy's voice was trembling. It appeared she felt the same way. At that moment, Gray awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Juvia and Lissana found you knocked out near the store," he said in a casual tone. "They brought you over here and asked Wendy to heal you." Something wasn't quite adding up. Something with Gray's voice…

"May I see the guild master?" Lucy asked.

"He's away for a meeting," Gray said. Something about that sounded rehearsed.

"Then can I walk around the guild until he gets back?"

"Sorry, but you-"

"Gray san," Wendy said. "Lucy san can walk around the guild." Gray reluctantly nodded.

Lucy decided to stay in the infirmary. A second ago, she was itching to walk around and see her fellow guild mates, but she suddenly felt a suspended fear in her stomach, and instinct told her not to. _Ex_ -guild mates, Lucy reminded herself. She looked at the calendar and noticed the note at the bottom of the page.

 _Train for the Grand Magic Games._

She flipped the calendar to the next month, staring at the circled date. July 1. Grand magic games.

"You know, July 1 is coming up very soon," Lucy said to start light conversation. However, the only response she heard was Wendy drop something.

"Sorry, Lucy san, I didn't mean to be such a klutz," Wendy said apologetically. The room was silent in an awkward tension.

Now that Lucy thought about it, it was weird for Fairy Tail not to make any noises.

"Gray, what's going on?" Lucy asked. "The guild is uncharacteristically silent." The decision to investigate was made up in her mind, despite that cold, churning dread.

Lucy opened the door.

Anyone would be certain not a single soul was in the guild.

"They're all out training for the Grand Magic Games," Gray said, anticipating her question, but Lucy had doubts. How could _all_ of them be out training?

"What is the Grand Magic Games?" Lucy asked.

"Five people from a guild form a team and fight in games and battles against other teams. The winner of it all is the one with the highest score. They get a prize money and the title of Fiore's number one guild."

The door abruptly opened as an all too familiar fire mage pranced in.

"I'm baaaaaaaack! Take a hike, ice *ss, when was the last time you took a solo mission, huh?" No response. Natsu looked around and saw Lucy and Gray, talking.

"Lucy?" Natsu asked. "You came back?"

"Way to go, flame brain, barging in like a patient in the mental asylum and then not noticing anything around you for two whole minutes."

"Shut up, snow cone, at least I don't ignore people when I'm talking to them!"

Lucy awkwardly cleared her throat. 'You sure about that?' asked a dark, sarcastic part of her mind. She decided to go along with more awkward light conversation.

"So, where's Happy?" Lucy asked.

"The exceeds all went ta visit the other exceeds from Extalia. They miss their families," Natsu said, oblivious to any awkward tension that the other two around him might be feeling.

"So, where's everybody else?" Natsu asked. "They should all be here, the master's gonna announce the Grand Magic Games teams." Lucy turned to stare at Gray.

"You said master was at a meeting and everyone is training," Lucy said. "Tell me, Gray, what's really happening?"

"This is personal information. Neither of you should know. I think it's safe to leave it at that," Gray said.

"It's our guild, so we have any right to know!" Natsu yelled.

"Lucy left Fairy Tail, didn't she?" Gray pointed out.

He was right.

"It's none of my business," Lucy said sadly. Rapidly blinking away tears, she said in a small voice "Well, I, um, should be going. I abandoned my training partner, and he's probably feeling hurt right now." Before she turned to walk away, Natsu gripped her arm.

"Are you gonna give up just like that?" Natsu asked. "I know you want to know this as much as I do."

"Why don't you go back to your trainer? Maybe if you stay with him, you're not going to get your sorry *ss hurt!" Gray yelled.

"Shut up!" Natsu bellowed. "I don't give a d*mn what your excuse is! And it doesn't even matter if Lucy has no emblem, she's still a Fairy Tail member at heart! Just tell us what the hell happened to our nakama, Gray! We're all friends and friends don't keep secrets!"

"Stop!" Wendy yelled, and the infirmary doors opened.

"I don't want to do this anymore, Gray. We have to stop pretending and tell them what happened."

"Wendy, you're too young to realize any of this," Gray said.

"I'm old enough to understand that if we don't, you'll tear yourselves apart and say things you don't mean." She turned to address Natsu and Lucy. "If you open storage room one, you'll understand."

"Wendy, no!" Gray yelled, but the three had already ran to storage room one. Until Loke blocked the way.

"Loke, what are you doing? You're supposed to be in the spirit realm!"

"Sorry," Loke said. "But I have some guarding to do."

"Forced closure!" Lucy cried.

"That won't work. I came here by my own power," Loke said lazily.

"Nice save, Loke," Gray said.

"Fire dragon iron fist!"

"Regulus impact!

"Sky dragon roar!"

"Ice make shield!"

"They're evenly matched," Lucy said to herself. "Open, gate of the bull, Taurus!"

"Moove it, Loke," Taurus said. "Make way for Lucy's boobs!" Somehow, Taurus managed to step in front of the shield and all the stacks ended up hitting him.

"No! That was the only spirit I had a contract with today!" Lucy yelled. "Wait… there's still pyxis, but that would be suicide for him."

"What is going on here?" The fighting immediately stopped at the appearance of a certain red-head.

"Erza! Does this mean that the others are back?" Wendy asked.

"I don't understand. What do you mean by back? And is there an explanation for why I woke up in a dark storage room?"

"Erza has an artificial eye, so whatever happened probably had only half the affect on her," Gray thought aloud.

"Explain. Now." Natsu decided it was his chance to run to the storage room and kick it open.

He wished he hadn't.

"What happened to them?" Lucy asked horrified. Loke went back to the spirit world, leaving Gray to explain thing.

"I don't know. Wendy and I found them like this." Natsu stood in the same spot, his fist clenched and his body unmoving.

"Whoever did this will pay."

"What? I don't understand! When I was in the room, I didn't see anyone else."

"Because there was no one else."

"We very well know you aren't here for a casual visit," said the old guard.

"I've been suspecting this for a while now, and I needed to confirm my suspicions," Charles said.

"Does this mean that the guild is under a spell?" Happy asked.

"Of course. It's obvious from their behavior. Lucy acted like they took months to plan her birthday party and the guild acted like it took a few hours. Whoever did this must be a time mage," Lily deduced.

"The only time mage we know is Ultear, though," Happy pointed out.

"That doesn't mean there are other time mages," Charles said.

"I don't understand my vision," said queen Shagotte. "I saw Lucy kill team Natsu."

"That can't be possible! Lucy won't do something like that!" Happy cried.

"If this keeps going on, then Fairy Tail will be-"

"Frozen in time."


	6. Chapter 6

**An: Hi. I'm baack! I had a different type of writers block. The type where one writes thirty different versions of the same chapter and cannot choose which one to use before venting out their creativity on other fanfics and wastes time watching anime. But then again, that's none of** _ **your**_ **business.**

"So you've seen it," said a hooded figure as he walked through the guild doors. "You've seen what happened to your guild mates, I presume?"

Everyone was on guard, but Erza's eyes had a flash of recognization.

"I'm not your enemy." The hooded figure took off his hood before revealing himself to be Jellal Fernandez. The air became more tense.

"There, uh, sure seems to be a lot of people who look like Jellal, huh?" Honestly, Lucy was sure Loke felt intimidated by this situation.

"What are you doing here?" Erza asked. All of them heard laughing, so they aimed their hands towards the door.

It was Ultear and Meredy.

"Relax. He didn't do anything; we got him out of jail," Ultear said. Meredy sighed.

"Let's try to tone down the light-heartedness and go for a more serious tone."

"Yes. Let's," Jellal said.

"Alright," Ultear said, composing herself. "First, we're out of jail because we made a new guild: Crime Sorciere. It's a guild for those who want to atone for their sins by fighting evil and saving others."

"Why not join Fairy Tail, like Gajeel and Juvia?" Natsu asked.

"Because this is a guild that is specifically made for fighting the Balam alliance and Zeref's forces. In addition to that, we have an advantage because we aren't well known, so people won't be on guard against us," Jellal explained.

"Second," Ultear continued. "While I was watching Fairy Tail through my crystal ball-"

"She looked like a stalker," Meredy said. "She even had a creepy smile on her face."

"Do you mean the same creepy smile you get whenever you look at her?" Jellal asked.

"Alright, let me finish. While I was watching Fairy Tail, everyone started to freeze. I didn't see the rest because my crystal ball broke right afterwards and it wouldn't let me see anything, so all of us decided to investigate."

"Did you find any information?" Erza asked.

"We found out that there was a gate known as the eclipse gate that let's someone go back to a different time. If we manage to open that gate, maybe we can reverse the effects on them. That gate may be situated anywhere, but we have a clue: in the Grand Magic Games, we detect a dark magic every year. It might be in there. However, we only have a limited number of days. It all ends after the eclipse, when the magic will solidify. The problem is that it can be situated anywhere, which means we have to spread our forces."

"Anything else?"

"Luckily, there's an arc of time spell to undo the effect, but only temporarily," Ultear said. "Everyone will still be solidified by the end of the eclipse, and the spell would be ineffective by that time. Still, there might be a second way to undo the spell. If we can figure out its name, then we could find a nullification spell for it."

"Well then hurry an free em! Ya can do that, can'tcha?" Natsu asked.

"She can't."

Charles, Happy, and Lilly had just entered, and Lilly was still shaken from everything they just learned.

"The spell takes up a lot of power, enough for 30 average mages. In addition, it can't be cast over power or under power, or else the magic will backfire and attack the users. This means no practice. From Extalian records, the magic causes a lot of pain, so if someone loses focus and slips up the spell, who knows what would happen."

"So, in the long shot, we're screwed," Gray said.

"Wow, so enthusiastic," Loke said sarcastically.

"We'll save our nakama, ice face. Quit sulking like a whiny b*tch," Natsu said.

"Like how you were the other day?" Gray asked.

"Anyone would be sad if they lost one of their friends!"

"Use that logic and multiply it by the number of friends I've just lost!"

"Stop fighting," Erza said.

"Oh ya, and it gets worse," Happy cried. "If we don't have our guild master, we can't enter the GMC! The council takes too much time to change guild master, and tickets to the Grand Magic Games are sold out!"

"How do we tell what amount of power everyone is using?" Lucy asked.

"Magic power finder. We have to collect enough money to buy one for each person and a calculator type that finds the sum of everyone's power by adding all the MPF scores. The real problem is figuring out how much magic we have to use in total."

"Could that information be in the library?" Erza asked.

"It might, but not in any of the public sections. It's in the heavily guarded private section."

Lucy realized that she might be able to find more information by summoning Crux.

"What's the name of the spell?" she asked. "According to the contract, I can summon Crux at 6."

"Oh yeah! The sleeping guy!" exclaimed Natsu and Happy simultaneously.

"I think it's name was Redi ad normalis," Ultear said.

"Alright. It just struck six. Open, gate of the southern cross, Crux!"

Crux, like usual, was snoring away. Suddenly and abruptly, he jolted awake.

"Keep the Dragon Slayers away! Keep them far away!" Crux shouted.

"Hear that? He hates your guts flame brain," Gray said laughing.

"And this is relevant how?" Lucy asked.

"Keep them away or their going to disappear from this world forever."

"So that means Wendy and Natsu can't cast the spell," Erza said. "Do we move Gajeel and Laxus too?"

"You can keep Laxus, but move Gajeel. Put him in front of the Magnolia train station; it should still work there. On the other hand, Natsu and Wendy need to go _far_ away. Send them past Hargeon. They should be safe past that point. Move them right now if you want any chance of them surviving. Someone should drive them on a magic vehicle."

"I'll do it," Erza said, her glare silencing any questions or protests.

"And anyone who's going to cast the spell can't use magic 24 hours before casting it under any circumstance."

"So that means if we want to do this on time, then I can't be one of the people casting the spell," Erza said.

"The more power someone uses, the more their body backlashes, and people can die from this spell, so try to spread the spell out among a lot of people. But be careful; if any of those one people lose focus, something bad will happen."

"I see," Lucy said. "So this is a complicated spell system depending on the trust a mage has. If the mage trusts a lot of people not to mess up, then with a higher risk, they can suffer less damage. If the mage trusts less people to cast the spell, then with a lower risk, they'll suffer more damage."

"And Fairy Tail gets another impossible mission yet again," Gray said.

 **An: Action! Sh*t just got real.**


End file.
